The effect of lipoic acid administration on the urinary excretion of thiocyanate in rats exposed to potassium cyanide.

The oxidation of cyanide (CN-) to a much less toxic thiocyanate (SCN-) is the main in vivo biochemical pathway for CN- detoxification. SCN- is excreted mainly in urine. This study was performed to investigate the effect of lipoic acid (LA) on the urinary excretion of thiocyanate (SCN-; rhodanate) in rats. Groups of the animals were treated intraperitoneally (i.p.) as follows: group 1: potassium cyanide (KCN) (1 mg/kg); group 2: KCN (1 mg/kg) + LA (100 mg/kg). Urine was collected for 24 h and the pooled samples were examined for SCN- levels. The obtained results indicated that the treatment of animals with potassium cyanide and LA in combination significantly increased the urinary excretion of SCN- in comparison with the respective values in the KCN-alone-treated group. It indicates that LA increased the rate of CN- detoxification in rats.